Made in NEPA: Hanover Township manufacturer Wren Kitchens aims for the top

Covered in the company’s signature kelly green, the Wren Kitchens catalogue is packed with kitchen cabinetry and countertops made in the USA.

That last part has special meaning here because these products are manufactured inside two large buildings in the Hanover Industrial Estates in Hanover Township and Sugar Notch and Warrior Run boroughs.

Damian Gawronkiewicz knows every inch of both facilities as the company’s head of manufacturing operations.

A native of Poland, Gawronkiewicz has worked for Wren Kitchens for 12 years, starting in the United Kingdom, where the company was established.

He relocated here in 2020 to set up the company’s first North American headquarters.

Gawronkiewicz speaks with pride as he explains the process required to transform thick wood sheets into a seemingly endless variety of styles and sizes.

In one plant section, workers apply glue and a foil that must be heated so it bonds to the wood, creating a smooth and flawless coating in the shade selected by each customer. There are more than 1,000 color options, though whites and grays are the most popular.

Slabs of quartz in more than 20 shades also must be cut to size and shaped at the edges for countertops.

Crews assemble the pieces to ensure the final products meet all specifications before they are packaged and loaded onto Wren trucks for direct delivery to customers.

Throughout the manufacturing process, bar codes and color-coded stickers are used to make sure each order complies with instructions, said Gawronkiewicz, who buzzes back and forth between the two facilities multiple times each day.

Wren has 13 U.S. stores in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, including a showroom that opened in July 2022 in the Wilkes-Barre Boulevard Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township.

Six more stores are set to open in 2024, and the initial plan is to have 750 retail locations across the U.S. within 15 years, he said.

“We would like to be number one in the United States,” Gawronkiewicz said.

Approximately 300 workers are employed in the local factories, he said. Factoring in the retail and design, there are now 300 to 350 additional workers in retail, design and other departments in the U.S.

Its local manufacturing operation is housed in spaces measuring approximately 250,000 square feet and 680,000 square feet.

He estimated 150 complete kitchens are manufactured here each week, operating on one day shift. Orders are turned around within seven days.

“Our measure of success is quality and customer satisfaction,” Gawronkiewicz said.

Official praise

Hanover Township Manager Samuel T. Guesto Jr. said he and other local officials are thankful Wren decided to set up its manufacturing base here.

“Hanover Township is very pleased that this world-class company has chosen to operate in our community,” Guesto said. “Wren’s quality manufacturing jobs add the perfect complement to our plan to continue growing a positive business and residential culture.”

Gawronkiewicz said the Hanover Industrial Estates is an ideal location due to its proximity to major highways and markets.

He also offered praise for the region’s quality of life, noting his family is enjoying the forests and lakes.

Gawronkiewicz lives a few minutes away from the plants in Hanover Township with his wife, Monika, and four children.

“I like to stay close to the workplace,” he said.

On the subject of Gawronkiewicz’s appreciation of this region’s natural resources, he said his employer has committed to environmental sustainability in the U.K. through tree-plantings and other initiatives.

Last week alone, the company planted more than 4,000 trees in England and Scotland, he said.

Gawronkiewicz said similar events will be organized in this country in the near future.

Strong recognition

The announcement of Wren Kitchen’s manufacturing center locating in Luzerne County was made in October 2020 by then-Gov. Tom Wolf.

“Wren Manufacturing’s choice to establish its North American headquarters in Pennsylvania speaks to what our commonwealth can offer to businesses looking to grow and expand,” the governor said at that time.

The privately-owned British designer, manufacturer and retailer of custom kitchen cabinets is “disrupting the custom cabinet market by improving the shopping experience — enabling customization of each product online and through a virtual reality experience at its network of retail centers,” the announcement said.

The project was coordinated by Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services, Pennsylvania’s Office of International Business Development and the Pennsylvania’s Governor’s Action Team.

Wolf had said this international move speaks to the strength of Pennsylvania’s business climate. The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary visited Wren Manufacturing’s U.K. headquarters in September 2019 on a business development mission that highlighted the commonwealth’s competitive advantages in workforce and advanced manufacturing to prospective investors considering the establishment of American operations, he had said.

John L. Augustine III, president/CEO of the economic development agency Penn’s Northeast, said Wren Kitchen’s arrival here is part of a trend.

“Wren joins a growing list of international companies that are not just setting up shop in Northeatern Pennsylvania, but are actually making their U.S. headquarters here,” he said.

While much of the public focus has been on this region’s warehouse and distribution growth, manufacturing is on the rise here because the location allows companies to get their products to major markets, Augustine said. Affordable land and buildings also are still available here, while these key attractions are now scarce in markets such as Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley, he said.

Truck drivers can travel about 11 hours before they must pull over and stop, Augustine said.

“In the center of our region, you can reach one-third of the U.S. population and half of Canada’s within one day’s drive,” he said. “We are busier than we’ve ever been in our history for this type of manufacturing and growth.”

In coming days, Augustine said his agency will be hosting a delegation of international investment representatives focused on bringing business to Pennsylvania.

Augustine’s desktop holds stacks of data on more than 35 million square feet of new manufacturing and industrial space planned along the Interstate 81 corridor from Schuylkill through Lackawanna counties.

The Hanover Street buildings occupied by Wren are leased from Mericle.

“We are seeing an upsurge in manufacturing inquiries, with approximately one third of all companies that contact us needing a production facility,” said Mericle’s Vice President of Marketing James A. Cummings. “Hopefully, this encouraging trend will continue.”

Cummings said Wren Kitchens already created hundreds of jobs in this region in addition to “the many indirect and induced jobs that they have helped create.”

“The company is one of the U.K.’s premier manufacturers, so it is very gratifying to know that they selected Mericle buildings in NEPA as the sites of their U.S. headquarters and main manufacturing plant,” Cummings said. “Wren is clearly in a growth mode, which bodes well for our area.”